Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 30.3

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: We should pray not to be conquered by temptation, quenching the evil one's fiery darts with the shield of faith and the living water of saving thoughts.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:394–395

ἵνʼ οὖν νοοῦντες αἰτῶμεν τὸν θεὸν τὸ μὴ εἰσελθεῖν „εἰς πειρασμὸν“ καὶ τὸ ῥυσθῆναι „ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, “ ἐπιμελέστερον ταῦτα ἐξετάσαντες καὶ παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἐρευνήσαντες, ἄξιοι διὰ τοῦ ἀκούειν θεοῦ τοῦ ἀκούσεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γινόμενοι, παρακαλῶμεν πειραζόμενοι μὴ θανατοῦσθαι καὶ βαλλόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν „τοῦ πονηροῦ“ πεπυρωμένων βελῶν μὴ ἀνάπτεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν. ἀνάπτονται δὲ ὑπʼ αὐτῶν πάντες, ὧν κατά τινα τῶν δώδεκα „αἱ καρδίαι“ „ὡς κλίβανος“ ἐγενήθησαν· οὐκ ἀνάπτονται δὲ οἱ τῷ θυρεῷ „τῆς πίστεως“ πάντα σβεννύντες τὰ ἐπιπεμπόμενα αὐτοῖς „πεπυρωμένα“ ὑπὸ „τοῦ πονηροῦ“ „βέλη“· ἐπὰν ἔχωσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ποταμοὺς „ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.“ τοὺς μὴ ἐῶντας ἰσχῦσαι τὸ „τοῦ πονηροῦ“ ἀλλὰ εὐχερῶς αὐτὸ λύοντας τῷ κατακλυσμῷ τῶν ἐνθέων καὶ σωτηρίων λογισμῶν, ἐντυπουμένων ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρημάτων τῇ τοῦ ἀσκοῦντος εἶναι πνευματικοῦ ψυχῇ.

English · Claude translation

So that, then, we may ask God with understanding not to enter “into temptation” and to be delivered “from the evil one,” having examined these things more carefully and searched them out within ourselves, becoming worthy, by listening to God, to be heard by him, let us entreat that when tempted we may not be put to death, and when struck by the flaming darts “of the evil one” we may not be set on fire by them. And all those are set on fire by them whose “hearts,” as one of the Twelve says, have become “like an oven”; but those are not set on fire who with the shield “of faith” quench all the “flaming” “darts” sent against them by “the evil one,” when they have within themselves rivers “of water springing up to eternal life,” which do not allow the power “of the evil one” to prevail, but easily quench it by the flood of divine and saving thoughts, imprinted from the contemplations of truth on the soul of the one who trains himself to be spiritual.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:394–395 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations and allusions are Eph 6:16, Hos 7:6 (“one of the Twelve” means one of the twelve Minor Prophets), John 4:14, and John 7:38.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 30.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/30/3/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 30.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/30/3/).

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